The Life of George H.W. Bush

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Handling Vomit with Grace and Humor

In one memorably embarrassing moment from 1992, a flu-sick President Bush fainted and vomited into the lap of Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa during a banquet hosted by the Japanese premier. Both Bush and his wife, Barbara, handled the unsettling episode with humor. She told a concerned crowd that he’d probably been sickened by the drubbing he took in tennis earlier that day in a doubles match against the Emperor and Crown Prince. For his part, Bush reportedly looked up from the floor as he came to and told the Prime Minister: “Why don’t you roll me under the table and I’ll sleep it off while you finish the dinner.”